‘Happy to receive Lodges of Sorrow after all’

    

I wasn’t looking forward to reading this latest bonus book from the Scottish Rite Research Society. There’s more than adequate morbidity in the world, so the title Lodges of Sorrow conveyed all I needed to form an irrational aversion, but never judge a book by its title. Lodges of Sorrow. Craft, Rose Croix, Kadosh contains much beautiful language our ancestors composed to provide solace and purpose for the most trying of times, and I was extra pleased to see it reached deeper into the past, before Scottish Rite’s birth, to eighteenth century London and America.

In their Introduction, Arturo de Hoyos and Chris Ruli begin at the beginning: our first clue of the existence of a Third Degree. Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected ritual exposure from 1730 tells of KS ordering HAB be “decently buried.”

“The theme of Hiram’s burial was an important feature of the Scots Master degree, which was the earliest known ‘high degree’ after Master Mason,” they add. “Conferred in London as early as 1733, the Scots Master degree soon spread to continental Europe.”

In actual funerals, they recall the burial of a Bro. Ellis, “a member of the ‘lodge at Antwerp Tavern,’” who was said to have been interred in the presence of his lodge brothers which itself was said to have been a first since 1717. They then note how decades later William Preston published the basis of our funerary rites in his book Illustrations of Masonry in 1772.

Returning to historic events, the Masonic funerals, with processions, of both Joseph Warren in 1776 (like HAB, Warren was disinterred and buried again properly) and George Washington in 1799 are recounted.

Unsurprisingly, Albert Pike authored a Funeral Ceremony and Lodge of Sorrows ritual for Scottish Rite Masons. Intended to be worked by Chapters of Rose Croix, but to honor anyone of the A&ASR, these later were put into practice for murdered President James A. Garfield, 14°.

In 1887, Pike additionally wrote ceremonies specifically for degrees 30 to 33, and, four years later, these would be employed for their author in a private midnight ceremony inside the Scottish Rite Cathedral in the District of Columbia. Days later, his coffin was transferred to a Congregational church, where a second midnight Kadosh service was performed, this time in the presence of Supreme Council, Grand Lodge, and the Masonic Veteran Association (where Pike had been president).

This Introduction merits twenty pages in a Heredom, but here it primes the reader for the following 130+ pages of funeral rituals and their contexts. First come five optional versions of Lodge of Sorrow and Ceremony at Final Resting Place, and here is where we find much of that gorgeous rhetoric that seemed to have been so common in the nineteenth century. One excerpt I especially like:

The lips of the departed speak to us sermons that cannot be translated into words. Most eloquently, they tell us how vain, and empty are all the ambitions, the disputes, the rivalries, and the struggles for rank and reputation in human life. Our Brother, whose soul has now departed, is indifferent to praise or censure, to undeserved eulogy or equally undeserved blame, to all the prizes of human greatness, to all the beatitudes of human love. Often it is said, yet it is always a solemn and impressive thought, that in the grave all men are equal, the prince and beggar, the warlike and the peaceful, the fortunate and the miserable.

And, later, from that Knight Kadosh piece:

It is midnight, and a new day begins for us. Our Brother has finished his earthly probation. Death is the inexorable creditor whose indulgence nothing in the world can purchase. Every moment that sees a newborn child laugh at the light, sees also a man die, and hears the cry of a breaking heart, and the lamentations of those who sit, lonely and in the desolation of affliction, no longer seeing the faces dearly loved.

Round the little island of our being on which we follow our various pursuits of toil and craft, of usefulness or mischief, throbs the illimitable ocean of Eternity upon which, round the isle, a broad circle of impenetrable darkness brooding lies. But beyond that zone the outer ocean sparkles, and its white-crested waves dance in the light; and somewhere in the distance the Islands of the Blessed are dreaming, girdled by the peaceful waters. here, in our present home, we live our little life, waiting to be called to other duties elsewhere; and one by one our loved ones and our cherished friends glide away from us unseen, and are swallowed up in the darkness which is the shadow of the broad wings of Death.

Each of us belongs to some little colony of hearts that hath a life of its own, its private and inner life, apart from that of the mass of Humanity which eddies round it in endless agitations, having with it no sympathies nor any memories of association. When one of its members dies, it is as if a limb were severed from the body. The wound heals, but the limb is missed as long as the body lives. Thus is the body of our Order here mutilated today, and therefore we mourn.

I was pleased also to see an illustration from Thomas Johnson’s A Brief History of Freemasonry from 1782.

I can’t say Lodges of Sorrow is mandatory reading for Freemasons. It is a window—a tall and wide and colorfully stained glass aperture—overlooking part of our past. If you’re going to read it, do so while keeping in mind the Masonic obsequies you have witnessed, and consider the possibility that today’s ceremonies lack a weighty sincerity. The standard lodge service has become just another piece of ritual work to memorize, which too often—at least in my experience—results in a perfunctory and fast recitation.

I wonder if there is a grand lodge in the country that even allows a Scottish Rite service, whether at midnight or high twelve.

     

‘Anson Jones Lecture announced’

    

The Anson Jones Lecture is one of the most prestigious lectures in the Masonic world. Second only to England’s Prestonian Lectures (which commenced in 1820), the Anson Jones Lecture brings with it a membership in the Texas Lodge of Research. But it brings much more. Being asked to deliver the lecture tells the recipient that he has been recognized as a Masonic scholar. It tells him that someone has noticed what he has written, and noticed it favorably. It is a sign of coming of age was a writer in Freemasonry; it is extremely flattering. Small wonder that the typical reaction of a lecturer upon being invited to deliver the Lecture is, “Who, me?”

Jim Tresner

Full Member and Past Anson Jones Lecturer

Well, it’s about time, is all I can say.

Shawn Eyer will be this year’s Anson Jones Lecturer!

Texas Lodge of Research marks the golden anniversary of this fine tradition by hosting Eyer at the lectern. No word yet on his topic or tickets, etc., but I’m sure that’s coming soon.

Who is Anson Jones?

Dr. Anson Jones was one of those seminal figures in Texas history, having served as the Republic’s final president, from 1844 to ’46, before becoming the twenty-eighth of these United States.

J.C. Kidd’s History of Holland Lodge No. 1, published in 1920, says:

Anson Jones, Physician, Gentleman, Statesman, Diplomat, Legislator, Secretary of State of the Republic of Texas, last President of the Republic of Texas, First Master of the First Lodge of A.F.&A.М., organized in Texas, Mexico, First Grand Master of the Grand Lodge, A.F.&A.M., of the Republic of Texas, was born in Seconk, township of Great Barrington, County of Berkshire, Massachusetts, on January 20, 1798. His early life was one of struggle, both for living and education. After years of work, he succeeded in securing his license to practice in 1820. He first located in Bainbridge, Massachusetts, but being unsuccessful, went to Philadelphia, remaining there only a few months, then sailing for South America, where the next two years were passed. Returning to Philadelphia, he attended a full course of lectures at Jefferson Medical College, and in 1827 received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the period he was in Philadelphia he united with the Odd Fellows, and became the Grand Master of the Order in Pennsylvania. He also became a Mason while in Philadelphia. In 1832 he moved to New Orleans and from there to Texas, reaching, finally Brazoria, November 1, 1833. His, almost, first financial success came after he settled at Brazoria. From that date his life and that of the Republic and State of Texas were closely interwoven. He died at Houston, about three o’clock a.m., January 9, 1858, at the Old Capitol. He was buried with Masonic honors on January 12, 1858, by the lodge that he had organized at Brazoria in 1835, and constituted at Houston, in 1837.

That lodge was Holland 36, Under Dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Louisiana (signed by MW John Henry Holland), and met secretly under what became known as the Masonic Oak. It began labors as Holland Lodge 1 in 1838.

(I have a tenuous connection to Holland 1 because the brother who brought me into Masonry in 1997 was himself brought into the Craft the previous year by an uncle who was at labor in Holland Lodge.)

Congratulations, Shawn! I hope your presentation makes it into the pages of The Philalethes.

     

‘Lodge of Research transactions due in September’

    

The Lodge of Research 2429 announced its next book of transactions is due in September.

Located in Leicester, England, the lodge was set to labor in 1892. Its objects, stated then:

‣ To provide a center and bond of union for Masonic students and brethren of literary tastes.

‣ To provide and encourage an exemplary rendering of the Masonic ritual and ceremonies.

‣ To attract and interest brethren by means of papers upon the history, antiquities, and symbols of the Craft, in order to imbue them with a love for Masonic research.

‣ And generally to cultivate Masonic good fellowship, and promote the grand principles upon which our Order is founded.

No word yet on the new book’s contents, but the publicity says:

Making a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge for more than 130 years, the Lodge of Research No. 2429 has been publishing original research into Freemasonry’s history, traditions, and personalities. Our next volume of Transactions, due for publication in September, includes papers of both national and international interest, featuring remarkable stories of forgotten Freemasons, new historical discoveries, and fresh perspectives on well-known aspects of the Craft.

If you’d like to receive the latest volume and keep up to date with our work, join our Correspondence Circle today.

“I’m delighted that this is the first volume for which I have had the privilege of serving as Editor,” says Andrew Green (who also is QCCC’s Local Secretary for Leicestershire) on social media. “It contains a fascinating collection of original research papers, including several with strong connections to London, alongside articles of national and international Masonic interest.”

Annual dues for us overseas cost ￡30—that’s US$40.

 

The lodge’s upcoming meetings are scheduled for November 23, for the Installation of Officers and the Worshipful Master’s inaugural paper. January 25, for papers and other presentations. March 22, to welcome the 2027 Prestonian Lecturer, RW Roger Pemberton.

Prospective visitors should contact the secretary in advance here.

     

‘Tisha B’Av brings evidence of KST era ruins’

    

When the sun sets in several minutes, the Jewish observance named Tisha B’Av will begin. It is known as the saddest day on the Jewish calendar because it marks calamities through history that tradition says had befallen the Jewish people on the ninth day of the month of Av. These include:

‣ the start of forty years of wandering the desert;

‣ the destruction of King Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonians;

‣ the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans;

‣ the defeat at the Battle of Betar;

‣ England’s expulsion of Jews;

‣ Spain’s expulsion;

‣ and more, including the start of World War I, which led directly to the Second World War and the Holocaust.

The observance of Tisha B’Av involves, in part, fasting and reading the Book of Lamentations. It concludes with a joyful note, however, with the concluding prayer: “Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old,” of Lamentations 5:21.

Two days ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the archeological discovery in the City of David of lumber it believes dates to the destruction of Solomon’s Temple. Watch the video above.

The IAA says:

Burnt Wooden Beams

from the Destruction of Jerusalem

during the First Temple Period

Discovered in the City of David

The charred beams were uncovered during excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University in Jerusalem within a building that collapsed by the intense fire at the time of the First Temple’s destruction. What likely preserved the beams for approximately 2,600 years was plaster that melted from the building’s walls, sealing the burnt wood beneath it.

Reut Vilf photo

A remarkable discovery was made recently at a dig in the Givati Parking Lot, as part of excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University in the City of David, within the Jerusalem Walls National Park: massive wooden beams that were burned during the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.

According to Excavation Director Efrat Bocher, “The beams appear to have served as the roof of an inner courtyard in a building from the First Temple period. During the destruction, they collapsed onto the floor. We believe that the plaster cladding of the building’s walls, melted by the fire, covered the charred wooden beams, and ultimately enabled their exceptional preservation.”

Reut Vilf photo

“It is very rare in Israel to find wood with such a large number of growth rings,” says Dr. Johanna Regev of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Weizmann Institute of Science, who is studying the find. “Here, in the City of David, we found beams with many rings, offering significant research potential—with more growth rings enabling higher dating resolution. Until recently, we could date finds from this time within a range of hundreds of years. Now, as we separate and collect the rings one by one in the field, we can attain much greater precision, potentially narrowing the dating range down to as little as ten years.”

The excavation directors note that Jerusalem’s returning residents, as they began to rebuild the city, probably made a deliberate decision to preserve the memory of the destruction by leaving behind remains that tell the story of the catastrophe. “The concept of a landscape of memory is familiar from many cultures around the world,” explains Dr. Yiftah Shalev, who directs the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority alongside Prof. Yuval Gadot of Tel Aviv University.

According to Dr. Shalev, “Preserving memory is a human need, seeking to preserve what once existed. Here we see it in its clearest form: a deliberate choice to leave ruins in place as a testament to the destruction and build the new layer over them.”

“We are just before Tisha B’Av,” adds Bocher. “This discovery makes you feel that you are witnessing the very moment of destruction, the moment when it all happened. It’s deeply moving.”

Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu commented on the new discovery: “Jerusalem’s soil continues to provide tangible evidence of the city’s ancient past. The wooden beams burned in the destruction of the First Temple stand as a powerful reminder of the Jewish people’s presence in Jerusalem some 2,600 years ago. On the eve of Tisha B’Av, this discovery underscores that our connection to Jerusalem is rooted not only in faith, but also in history, archaeology, and collective memory. It is our responsibility to continue uncovering, preserving, and passing this heritage on to future generations.”

     

‘Benjamin Franklin’s The Morals of Chess’

    

Lady Howe Checkmating Benjamin Franklin, by Edward Harrison May, oil-on-canvas, 1867. It depicts an actual meeting. Franklin met Lady Howe, sister of British Admiral Howe, in 1774 as a ruse to cover his negotiations with Lord Howe to avoid the Revolution in British North America. The painting is the collection of Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven.

Every day is a chess day, but today is International Chess Day. It was July 20, 1924 when the International Chess Federation was organized in Paris, and, under FIDE’s auspices, this date has been celebrated by chess players since 1966.

What has chess to do with Freemasonry? Superficially, there is the checkered square. More thoughtfully however, if we read Benjamin Franklin’s essay about the game, we find his understanding of chess dovetails effortlessly with aspects of Masonic theory.

Magpie file photo

Remnants of Albert Pike’s chess set on display in the House of the Temple. The pieces predate the standardization of the Staunton design.

The following was written in 1732, not long after Franklin’s admission into the fraternity at Philadelphia, but wasn’t published until 1786 for some reason.

The Morals of Chess

by Benjamin Franklin

Playing at Chess is the most ancient and universal game known among men, for its original is beyond the memory of history, and it has, for numberless ages, been the amusement of all the civilized nations of Asia, the Persians, the Indians, and the Chinese. Europe has had it above 1,000 years; the Spaniards have spread it over their part of America, and it begins lately to make its appearance in these northern states. It is so interesting in itself as not to need the view of gain to induce engaging in it; and thence it is never played for money. Those, therefore, who have leisure for such diversions, cannot find one that is more innocent; and the following piece, written with a view to correct (among a few young friends) some little improprieties in the practice of it, shows at the same time that it may, in its effects on the mind, be not merely innocent, but advantageous, to the vanquished as well as to the victor.

The game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it, so as to become habits, ready on all occasions. For life is a kind of chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effects of prudence or the want of it.

By playing at chess, then, we may learn:

1. Foresight, which looks a little into futurity, and considers the consequences that may attend an action: for it is continually occurring to the player, “If I move this piece, what will be the advantages of my new situation? What use can my adversary make of it to annoy me? What other moves can I make to support it, and to defend myself from his attacks?”

2. Circumspection, which surveys the whole chess-board, or scene of action, the relations of the several pieces and situations, the dangers they are respectively exposed to, the several possibilities of their aiding each other, the probabilities that the opponent may make this or that move, and attack this or the other piece; and what different means can be used to avoid his stroke, or turn its consequences against him.

3. Caution, not to make our moves too hastily. This habit is best acquired by observing strictly the laws of the game, such as, “If you touch a piece, you must move it somewhere; if you set it down, you must let it stand.” And it is therefore best that these rules should be observed, as the game thereby becomes more the image of human life, and particularly of war; in which, if you have incautiously put yourself into a bad and dangerous position, you cannot obtain your enemy’s leave to withdraw your troops, and place them more securely; but you must abide all the consequences of your rashness.

And lastly, we learn by chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs, the habit of hoping for a favorable change, and that of persevering in the search of resources. The game is so full of events, there is such a variety of turns in it, the fortune of it is so subject to sudden vicissitudes, and one so frequently, after long contemplation, discovers the means of extricating one’s self from a supposed insurmountable difficulty, that one is encouraged to continue the contest to the last, in hopes of victory by our own skill, or, at least, of giving a stalemate, by the negligence of our adversary. And whoever considers, what in chess he often sees instances of, that particular pieces of success are apt to produce presumption, and its consequent, inattention, by which more is afterwards lost than was gained by the preceding advantage; while misfortunes produce more care and attention, by which the loss may be recovered, will learn not to be too much discouraged by the present success of his adversary, nor to despair of final good fortune, upon every little check he receives in the pursuit of it.

That we may, therefore, be induced more frequently to choose this beneficial amusement, in preference to others which are not attended with the same advantages, every circumstance, that may encrease the pleasure of it, should be regarded; and every action or word that is unfair, disrespectful, or that in any way may give uneasiness, should be avoided, as contrary to the immediate intention of both the players, which is, to pass the time agreeably. 

Therefore, 1st. If it is agreed to play according to the strict rules, then those rules are to be exactly observed by both parties; and should not be insisted on for one side, while deviated from by the other, for this is not equitable.

2. If it is agreed not to observe the rules exactly, but one party demands indulgences, he should then be as willing to allow them to the other.

3. No false move should ever be made to extricate yourself out of a difficulty, or to gain an advantage. There can be no pleasure in playing with a person once detected in such unfair practice.

4. If your adversary is long in playing, you ought not to hurry him, or express any uneasiness at his delay. You should not sing, nor whistle, nor look at your watch, nor take up a book to read, nor make a tapping with your feet on the floor, or with your fingers on the table, nor do any thing that may disturb his attention. For all these things displease. And they do not show your skill in playing, but your craftiness or your rudeness.

5. You ought not to endeavor to amuse and deceive your adversary, by pretending to have made bad moves, and saying you have now lost the game, in order to make him secure and careless, and inattentive to your schemes; for this is fraud, and deceit, not skill in the game.

6. You must not, when you have gained a victory, use any triumphing or insulting expression, nor show too much pleasure, but endeavor to console your adversary, and make him less dissatisfied with himself by every kind and civil expression, that may be used with truth, such as: You understand the game better than I, but you are a little inattentive; or, You play too fast; or, You had the best of the game, but something happened to divert your thoughts, and that turned it in my favor.”

7. If you are a spectator, while others play, observe the most perfect silence. For if you give advice, you offend both parties; him, against whom you give it, because it may cause the loss of his game; him, in whose favor you give it; because, though it be good, and he follows it, he loses the pleasure he might have had, if you had permitted him to think till it occurred to himself. Even after a move or moves, you must not, by replacing the pieces, show how it might have been played better, for that displeases, and may occasion disputes or doubts about their true situation. All talking to the players, lessens or diverts their attention, and is therefore unpleasing, nor should you give the least hint to either party, by any kind of noise or motion. If you do, you are unworthy to be a spectator. If you have a mind to exercise or show your judgment, do it in playing your own game when you have an opportunity, not in criticizing or meddling with, or counseling, the play of others.

Lastly. If the game is not to be played rigorously, according to the rules above mentioned, then moderate your desire of victory over your adversary, and be pleased with one over yourself. Snatch not eagerly at every advantage offered by his unskilfulness or inattention; but point out to him kindly that by such a move he places or leaves a piece in danger and unsupported; that by another he will put his king in a dangerous situation, &c. By this generous civility (so opposite to the unfairness above forbidden) you may indeed happen to lose the game to your opponent, but you will win what is better, his esteem, his respect, and his affection; together with the silent approbation and good will of impartial spectators.

     

‘Researchers discover Acacia in Pennsylvania’

    

Most of the group at Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 yesterday at Acacia 586 in Pennsylvania.

Another great weekend with Civil War Lodge of Research is behind us. Time to look forward to the next one.

Worshipful Master Bill presents Bro. Creighton his Past Master apron. Our Chaplain this year, Creighton is Pastor at Danieltown Baptist Church in North Carolina. He served in the East last year.

We sojourned from our Virginia home to the Keystone State for a visit to Acacia Lodge 586 in Waynesboro for our meeting and additional stops in the area. It’s great to sit in lodge again with Bennett, almost fully recovered from a recent injury, and the brethren. An encouraging turn-out too, with twenty-two present, including a delegation from our host lodge (we don’t always see many from the lodges that welcome us into their temples).

The Worshipful Master in the East at Acacia 586.

We balloted and added another Virginia brother to our ranks too, as Bro. Donald of, I think, Mount Carmel 133 was elected to membership, so our roster numbers 331 members. (That’s a high number for a research lodge, but brethren from Virginia, across the country, and beyond join us.)

Next year’s meeting schedule is taking shape, so look for communications at MAHOVA for our installation in December; then travels to North Carolina in April; the District of Columbia next July; and Frederick, Maryland (or proximity) in October.

The Masonic Building is located
in a beautiful downtown.

Bro. Carl Lynch, Senior Warden of Acacia 586, was our speaker Saturday, presenting his “Thunder on the Mountain: South Mountain During the Civil War.” This is military history with only scant mentions of Freemasonry (a young William McKinley served in the September 1862 Battle of South Mountain, for example). Unfortunately, we were pressed for time, having lunch reservations at a local restaurant, so Bro. Carl had to abridge his talk, but managed to pack a lot of detail into our brains about that region’s great significance in the war.

The altar from the north side.

The Senior Warden’s station in the West.

The Master’s gavel’s sounding block
is a small ashlar.

I’ve always loved the English-style Past Master jewels made and worn in Pennsylvania. I tried to purchase one years ago, but neither of the manufacturers wanted to help me.

This portrait hangs in a place of honor.

Waynesboro itself factored into Gen. Robert E. Lee’s battle plans, as it was a locus of industry then. If you’ve ever heard the improbable story of the Confederate battle plan (Special Order 191) that was lost in transit from Lee to Gen. D.H. Hill—the papers wrapped around three cigars when found by Union soldiers—that was there at South Mountain. Another future U.S. president, a young Rutherford B. Hayes, also among Ohio’s troops, fought and was wounded at this battle. Confederate Lt. Col. George S. James died at South Mountain. He had commanded the mortar battery that initiated the attack on Fort Sumter the year before. He doesn’t get the blame for starting the Civil War, but he in fact fired the shot that was first to hit Fort Sumter. His story continues postmortem because his brother traveled to the battlefield in search of his remains to bring home for burial only to be killed in action himself before finding the unmarked grave a local resident promised to show him.

Lynch did a masterful job of presenting these stories, which is not surprising. He is a Frederick County Park Ranger with lots of experience in explaining to the uninformed these aspects of the war. Plus, he’s a hilarious raconteur!

And this history occurred nearly a year before the Battle of Monterey Pass, immediately after Gettysburg, which is what brought us to Waynesboro in the first place.

Carl spoke for about forty-five minutes; after he finished, we crossed town to eat at a casual lunch spot, which was surprisingly good. The bad news is this left little time for our intended visit to the Monterey Pass Battlefield Park & Museum. Civil War Lodge pointedly pairs our meetings with visits to relevant historic sites. There wasn’t a group visit planned this time, so we each were on our own. I could have done it, but would have needed to return to the hotel, change out of my suit & tie and into clothing appropriate for the heat and humidity, which would have made the park’s closing hour even nearer. Instead, I returned to the lodge’s neighborhood, where I’d noticed a few businesses worth visiting.

56 West Main Street in Waynesboro.

Christie’s House of Pipes & Cigars has been located across the street from Acacia since 1980, when founder Eric Christie opened his doors. It’s a small space; don’t expect a huge inventory. Still, I think having an old school tobacconist right outside the temple’s doors is a sign from Providence.

I visited for a few minutes and chatted with Eric. I possess an inventory of pipe mixtures that will outlast me, so I don’t need any more, but I purchased an ounce of what Christie’s names Vesta, an English that “has just the right amount of Virginia, Burley, Toasted Cavendish, Perique, Latakia and Turkish tobaccos,” says his website.

I don’t need more pipe tobacco,
but another ounce can’t hurt.

I will sample this tonight. (In the 1931 Bela Lugosi movie Dracula—but not the Stoker novel—the Vesta is the schooner that brings our favorite vampire to England.)

There are several antiques stores only steps away. To my mind, an antique is something that predates the Second World War, but evidently bric-a-brac from my childhood now occupy the cubic inches of these shops. ($40 for a vinyl Van Halen Diver Down. Cripes.) But there were older items, just don’t look for bargains. Still under the influence of Christie’s, I sought out whatever tobacciana might be about.

These places always have
a lot of Edgeworth tins.

Then I had to return to the hotel for a shower and fresh clothes. The hot wet July air was polluted by Canada’s latest wildfires, and I was wilting in my dark suit. We had dinner reservations at Cashtown Inn, located in Orrtanna, approximately twenty miles away.

 

A familiar statuette decorates
Cashtown Inn’s sitting room.

Cashtown Inn is located in Adams County.

Another pipe!

Most of us remained satiated from lunch, so we disappointed our waitress with modest orders of appetizers, soups, and salads. I tried to compensate by drinking more Yards Porter than I medicinally required. (Is there a more thoughtful man? I think not!) Still my bill totaled less than $30.

But let me recommend this establishment. In addition to the most charming restaurant, the rooms upstairs are for hire for your overnight stays. A place with its own amazing history.

Finally, bedways was right ways, so it was back to my own hotel for the night’s spatchka. Then it was homeward bound this morning.

Grand Lodge’s 250th anniversary pins
are available. (Not actual size.)

Civil War Lodge of Research 1865 will meet next on Saturday, October 10 at Fort Monroe in Virginia, but don’t forget the Grand Master’s Research Lodge Official Visit next month on Saturday the 29th at Haymarket Lodge 313, starting at one o’clock.

     

‘Venezuela disaster relief appeal’

    

An urgent plea from the Masonic Service Association of North America:

Venezuela Earthquake

Disaster Relief Appeal

On June 24, two large earthquakes struck northwestern and central Venezuela, both centered in San Felipe, Yaracur. Currently hundreds of thousands are homeless, more than 5,000 were killed, at least 16,500 are injured, and tens of thousands remain missing. As of July 17, at least five brother Masons with 300 relatives of brothers were also killed. Thousands more have lost their homes, their livelihoods, their worldly possessions. Lastly, the Grand Lodge Temple in Caracas, built in 1873, was severely damaged.

As Brothers of the Craft, let us remember that adversity only strengthens our international bonds. Let us also use this moment to reflect on the fragility of life and the importance of being prepared, not just physically, but also in terms of the support systems we offer to one another.

José Gregorio Sardelli Bravo, Grand Master Grand Lodge of the Republic of Venezuela, has requested the Masonic Service Association of North America to issue this Disaster Relief Appeal. The MSANA Board of Commissioners has endorsed this request. If you choose to give to this appeal please forward any donations you feel appropriate to help our devastated Brothers and their families in this stricken grand jurisdiction to MSANA.

Please make checks payable to MSA Disaster Relief Appeal and mail to:

    Masonic Service Association

    813 1st Avenue SE

    Suite 357

    Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

When remitting by check, please clearly mark that you wish the funds to go to the Venezuela Earthquake Relief Appeal.

Online donations here.

Mark A. Tabbert, PM

Administrator

Masonic Service Association

of North America

     

‘Where would we be without the Ancients?’

     

It’s a big year for anniversaries, so let’s not forget how on this date 275 years ago the Grand Lodge in London of Free and Accepted Masons According to the Old Institutions was established. We remember them better as the Ancients.

New from Lewis Masonic.

Yesterday I received in the mail a copy of Ric Berman’s new book The Genesis of American Freemasonry. A review is forthcoming, but let me quote a little of what he says about the Ancients:

The Grand Lodge of England According to the Old Institutions, or Antients Freemasonry, as it was later called, was established by London’s emigre Irish community in the 1750s as an alternative to the Freemasonry of the Grand Lodge of England. Irish lodges had been active in London from at least the mid 1730s, but the creation of the new grand lodge in 1751 formalized their operation and lead to a considerable expansion. From the start, however, the Antients attracted members from outside the Irish diaspora, particularly the aspirational, lower middling and working class. And this is key. Unlike the Grand Lodge of England and most of the lodges that worked within its orbit in England and America, Antients Freemasonry did not restrict itself to the social elites, but welcomed a wider membership. This is not to say that everyone could join—it was still relatively expensive—but it was far less class conscious.

This is a good time to mention how the Ancients didn’t spell it “Antients.” Shawn pointed out that to me a while back. I don’t know how that alternative spelling caught on.

Back to Berman:

The key figure behind Antients Freemasonry and its success was Laurence Dermott, Its grand secretary from 1752-70 and deputy grand master from 1771-77 and again from 1783-7. Virtually from its inception, Dermott took administrative control and guided the internal and public perception of the organization, positioning the Antients as a society with a long established tradition of “keeping the ancient landmarks of the Order in view.“ He effectively coined and popularized the term Moderns to describe the rival Grand Lodge of England, a dismissive label that was, and was intended to be, pejorative. And the epithet stuck.

You must read Ahiman Rezon, the book of constitutions of this new grand lodge published in 1756. It is largely based on James Anderson’s Constitutions of 1723, not as a copy in homage, but as a launching point to document the different thinking of these Ancients. It came from Dermott’s quill and is spiced with his sardonic wit.

Berman continues:

In Ahiman Rezon, Dermott joked that the rival Moderns had:

[considered it] expedient to abolish the old custom of studying geometry in the lodge and some of the young brethren made it appear that a good knife and fork in the hands of a dextrous brother (over the right materials) would give greater satisfaction and add more to the rotundity of the lodge… from this improvement proceeded the laudable custom of charging to a public health to every third sentence that is spoke in the lodge.

The Ancients’ Masonic history, Charges of a Freemason, and General Regulations differ from the first grand lodge’s, and sometimes contradict. And then there’s the Royal Arch.

In America, the rivalry between the two grand lodges was resolved decades before the Moderns and Ancients amalgamated to form the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813, but that’s a whole other story. Suffice to say, without the Ancients, I don’t know where we’d be today.

I’m in Pennsylvania with Civil War Lodge of Research, a Virginia lodge (and the grand lodges of both states dub their respective constitutions Ahiman Rezon), but before retiring I wanted to make sure I raised my glass to this 275th anniversary. Vivat!